NBA: Boston Celtics' Leandro Barbosa making most of chance

When Leandro Barbosa has the ball, he usually has one thing in mind: Take it to the basket.

Few do that better than the Brazilian Blur. No wonder teammate Avery Bradley calls him “Instant Buckets.”

“That’s the way I like to play,” the Celtics’ reserve guard said. “I grew up playing like that. I learned how to play like that. Coach (Doc Rivers) gives me the confidence to go to the basket, so that’s what I do.”

The 6-foot-3 Barbosa feels like no one can stop him.

“I have that set in my mind,” he said. “This is one of the big keys for my game, and every time I see the chance to go to the basket, I go.”

Barbosa, 30, has had far more chances in the six games since Rajon Rondo suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee. During those six games, Barbosa has averaged 9.2 points in 23.5 minutes.

“He’s just playing so well,” Rivers said. “He’s wild at times. I think he scares me and the opposing coach all at the same time. That’s actually not bad to have. He’s tough.”

Barbosa’s last six games have been quite an improvement over the 2.8 points and 6 minutes that he averaged over the previous seven games.

“He’s been great,” Rivers said. “He’s the guy all year (you wonder), ‘Should you go with him, shouldn’t you go with him.’ Obviously, you should have. You could make that case. That means another guard would have had to sit.”

Danny Ainge’s signing of Barbosa as a free agent on Oct. 18 turned out to be a shrewd move. Because of visa problems, Barbosa didn’t play in any of the remaining preseason games and couldn’t practice with the team until Oct. 24. But just six days later, he scored 16 points in 16 minutes in the Celtics’ season-opening loss at Miami.

Barbosa’s playing time shrunk when Bradley returned in January after undergoing surgery on both shoulders, and ESPN Brazil reported that Barbosa asked Ainge to trade him. Barbosa and Ainge denied the report, and the Celtics are glad he’s still on the team.

“I got my chance now,” Barbosa said, “and I’m very happy to be on the court and help my teammates.”

Barbosa scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday to help the Celtics overcome a 10-point deficit and beat the Raptors, his former team. On Thursday, he played in his first Celtics-Lakers game, prompting him to tweet earlier in the day, “Tonight we have the biggest classic game in basketball history. I could not be more excited!!!”

Barbosa missed all six of his field goal attempts against the Lakers, but he had five rebounds, three assists and a steal as the Celtics romped to their sixth consecutive victory, 116-95.

Rivers admitted he has no idea when Barbosa is going to have a good game.

“No, I think it goes on and off in the game,” Rivers said. “What you know is he’s going to be aggressive, and what I know is I want him to be aggressive, and it’s my job when I think he’s over that line to either take him out and bring him back in or tell him, but I don’t tell him much.”

Rivers mostly lets Barbosa do his thing when he’s on the court. The Celtics coach has also found Barbosa to be a better defender than advertised.

“That’s one of the things we kept hearing,” Rivers said, “that he’s not been a defensive player, and I kept thinking, ‘Well, he’s beating everybody offensively with his speed so he has to have some speed (on defense).’ He’s still learning, but he’s picking up schemes and he’s gotten so much better on the ball defense. His weak-side defense, he still gets lost a little bit, but I think that’s been his biggest surprise. Offensively, I think we all knew how creative he was.”

Barbosa wished Steve Nash, his good friend and former teammate in Phoenix, a happy 39th birthday Thursday, and he was impressed with Bradley’s defensive performance against the Lakers point guard. Bradley kept Nash from penetrating for much of the night.

“Nash is a great point guard,” Barbosa said. “I played with him many times, and I never saw somebody get up on him like Avery. Even I told Avery, ‘Get up on him and don’t let him play,’ and he did a great job.”

“I think no one in the league does what he does,” Barbosa said. “He’s very athletic, he never gets tired, and Coach asks him to pressure the ball, and he does what Coach asks.”

C’s look for seventh straight
The Celtics will seek their seventh consecutive victory when they host the Denver Nuggets at 6 tonight at the Garden. Denver took an eight-game winning streak into Cleveland Saturday night.

In beating the Lakers Thursday, the Celtics became the first NBA team to win six or more in a row, then lose six or more in a row, then win six or more in a row. The Celtics actually won six, lost six, then won six, all on the number.

Wednesday in Toronto, the Celtics became the second NBA team to win six or more, then lose six or more, then win five in a row. Phoenix won seven straight, then lost six in a row, then won five straight during the 2004-05 season.

Point guard no longer focus
With no true point guard since Rondo got hurt, the Celtics have won by moving the ball quicker and more frequently. No longer does anyone stand around while Rondo has the ball in his hands for much of the time. Now anyone could have the ball at any given time, but not for long before he passes it. Opponents can’t focus on just one ball-handler.

Could Rondo thrive in such an offense without having the ball as often?

“I think it would be a good fit for anybody,” Rivers said. “He would have the ball less at times. He’d do more cutting and spacing.”

Rivers insisted he didn’t overhaul the offense after Rondo got hurt.

“We haven’t changed our offense much at all,” Rivers said. “It’s a call we’ve been running all year. We just haven’t been very good at it. The second unit over the last 10 games has been terrific running it, and the first unit has not been. Now the first unit is just doing what the second unit is already doing.”

NBA life begins at 30
How do Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and so many other NBA players continue to be productive in their mid- or late-30s?

The reliance on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball has made cynics of us all, but Rivers credited the improvements in training since he retired in 1996 after having played 13 seasons in the NBA.

“I think they are far better conditioned than we were,” Rivers said.

Rivers played his first eight seasons for Atlanta, but he said he didn’t have a team weight room until he was traded to the Clippers for his ninth NBA season in 1991-92. Before practice one day, Clippers coach Mike Schuler told the team to spend an hour with the strength coach.

“I was like ‘Strength coach?’ ” Rivers recalled. “I never heard of a strength coach. What the heck was that? It was mandatory. I wish I had done it earlier in my career.”

Rivers also spent his summers playing basketball instead of working out like many players do nowadays.

“It’s funny,” Rivers recalled, “I don’t even think it’s legal what we did now. Really. I played in the Chicago summer league, I played in the New York summer league, I went to (Los Angeles), and I just went from summer league to summer league and played all summer.”

Havlicek memorabilia sale
How would you like to own the NBA championship ring that Celtics great John Havlicek earned 50 years ago?

Or Havlicek’s game ball from the Celtics’ series-clinching victory at Phoenix in Game 6 of the 1976 NBA Finals?

Or Havlicek’s signed, game-worn jersey and shorts from the 1966 NBA All-Star Game?

Or even his 1978 Celtics retirement trophy?

You could own any or all of these items, but it’s going to cost you. Much of Havlicek’s memorabilia will be auctioned in April by SCP Auctions of Laguna Niguel, Calif. That’s the same company that raised $455,641 for Bob Cousy by auctioning his memorabilia in November 2003. That was more than double what Cousy earned in his 13 years with the Celtics. He decided to auction off his trophies, rings and other items to raise money for his two daughters.

Cousy’s 1957 Most Valuable Player trophy sold for $51,673, his 1957 NBA championship ring sold for $27,179, a John F. Kennedy photo that JFK signed to Cousy went for $25,300, and Cousy’s Hall of Fame ring raised $19,134.

In 2007, SCP auctioned a Celtics road jersey that Havlicek wore in the 1960s for $10,200, so the items up for auction in April should generate a lot of money.